Impressions.
I love it.
Diesels I've owned before:
Mercedes 240, 99 Beetle, 2005.5 Jetta.
Luxury cars I've owned Infiniti and Volvo.
This car is an immediate Wow!
-Appearance on the exterior is fairly conservative and it might actually look "better" in white or silver as it will accentuate the tough lines of the car...But I just really like black. Interior this car seems more like an Audi.
-The piano black makes the whole thing.
-All the materials feels solid and flow. -The interior and driving position is perfect.
-I love the actual knobs instead of just push buttons for the radio.
-I debated on whether I wanted the the SEL and I'm very glad I bought it.
-The ambient lighting was something I would've never ordered a la carte but I really LOVE it.
-The GPS is just OK but I have yet to explore it and read the manual.
-The sunroof is huge but it only feels huge when it's closed...If that makes sense. It seems like it should open just a few inches more...But it doesn't. But it is beautiful and one of the reasons I waited for the 2015 model.
-My daughter (7) has plenty of room in the back. It feels the same as our old CRV or XC60 we had.
-The engine performance is pure joy. My daughter laughed when I gunned it in sport mode.
-She also said the sound felt better than when I took her to see Bruce Springsteen...she meant she could feel the bass
-There is very little turbo lag.
-The suspension is noticeably firm. More than I expected. Maybe I've been driving crossovers too long but I definitely feel it. Maybe it's the torsion beam and lack of IRS. It's not that bad though and I probably would not have even commented if I didn't know there was a torsion beam.
-Gas mileage since the dealer fill up according to the computer is 39.9 mpg. I have been driving the sh*t out of it and racing it in sport mode. 50/50 hwy/city. I hope to be up at 50 on my interstate commutes. If I can get my old CRV to give 31 mpg on a hwy trip I'm pretty sure I can get 50 out of this.
-The adblue cap is right near the fuel cap. Didn't know it would be that accessible. Awesome.
-I test drove an Audi A4, A3,Q5, BMW X1, X3, and 328d. I feel like this car can easily stand with any of those in terms of build quality.
-The only thing this lacks is AWD but that's a whole other thread. My opinion about AWD is this: I live in the snowiest city in the lower 48 according to the last winter weather data and the number of times I was actually driving in awful snow while it was snowing was very little. 5-10 times? If that. Maybe 3 of those times I needed AWD. Also. I just returned from a trip to Switzerland. I was in the alps. Everyone had Golfs and Fiats. Hardly any of them were AWD.
